This invention relates to novel optically-active diamide derivatives, which are useful as starting materials for asymmetric synthesis of optically active compounds, as well as to production and use thereof.
Acyclic compounds of simple structure having optical activities have recently been recognized to be of ever increasing usefulness because they are very useful as essential starting materials for the preparation of optically active acyclic intermediate compounds to be used in the total synthesis of macrolide antibiotics, macrolactam antibiotics, polyether antibiotics, .beta.-lactam antibiotics, and physiologically active natural substances such as prostaglandin. Some of such optically active acyclic compounds have been produced by either a decomposition of natural substances such as sugars, terpenes, and amino acids or an enzymatic method or chemical asymmetric synthesis.
The highly selective conversion of an enantiotopic group adjacent to the prochiral center in symmetric compounds such as the compounds (1) and (3) below has been attained only by a process utilizing a specified enzyme such as .alpha.-chymotrypsin, pig liver esterase, and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase. ##STR2## By this enzymatic process, however, only one kind of the enantiomeric isomer can be produced, and moreover, it cannot be predicted which enantiomer can be obtained.
On the other hand, chemical methods can be designed suitably to asymmetrically synthesize only an intended enantiomer. For example, there have been reports of some non-enzymatic processes wherein a nucleophilic reagent is caused to react with an acid anhydride of the above mentioned compound (1) to obtain an optically active compound. These processes, however, are not satisfactory with respect to their optical yields.